The technology thread

[Ragey Erasmus]

Twitter Sues Nonprofit That Tracks Hate Speech (Published 2023)

The Center for Countering Digital Hate said it had received a letter from X, Twitter’s parent company, accusing it of trying to hurt the social platform with its research.

www.nytimes.com

But but freedom of speech! Or something...

 

[Which Tyler]

Not to mention, being truthful is a pretty good defence against defamation claims.
Presumably, it's just about threatening with expensive lawyers in the hopes of bullying, rather than actually winning a court case.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Kai Cenat: Police charge Twitch streamer after PS5 giveaway mayhem

Police say US influencer Kai Cenat could be charged with inciting a riot after chaos in Manhattan.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Ulez just the start and similar scheme needed for buildings, experts warn

Lowering pollution produced by houses, offices and factories is just as crucial as tackling vehicle emissions

www.theguardian.com

 

[Bada-Bing!]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z4b6ywx

I got 6/8.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

I like the idea of swapping out the batteries.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I like the idea of swapping out the batteries.

When he stated with "Here I am in Taiwan" I was half expecting it to be a Tom Scott video.

A neat idea although I wonder if there could be any issues with the battery being tied to a company (ie what happens if the company goes bust or pulls out of the region?) Not so feasible with cars though, unless there can be some way to make cars use multiple smaller batteries rather than a single large one that you can swap out by hand.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

When he stated with "Here I am in Taiwan" I was half expecting it to be a Tom Scott video.

A neat idea although I wonder if there could be any issues with the battery being tied to a company (ie what happens if the company goes bust or pulls out of the region?) Not so feasible with cars though, unless there can be some way to make cars use multiple smaller batteries rather than a single large one that you can swap out by hand.

According to this article there is a second company that produces changeable batteries for e-mopeds in Taiwan but a fraction of the main supplier. But yes infrastructure for it would take time build if it were to come to the UK. Better for city use given the range.

On cars, don't know if you've watched https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001mwr2 but it shows how much the infrastructure for charging points needs to a massive investment if electric cars are going to take off.

 

[Amiga500]

On cars, don't know if you've watched https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001mwr2 but it shows how much the infrastructure for charging points needs to a massive investment if electric cars are going to take off.

Its not just the charging points - its the entire grid around them.

Car batteries as they are, currently aren't removeable. It's just not feasible. There would need to be a very radical design change to make it feasible.

(Something like each cell, or a small group of cells is housed inside a small sphere - or more likely an ovoid, and those spheres are loaded into the car through one hole - like current fuel - and removed from the car through another hole - and inside the car has to line them up with connection points via shape & magnets. Pretty radical compared to current, it'd come with a fairly significant performance penalty - and it still doesn't really sort the infrastructure issue, it just sorts the charge time thing out.)

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Its not just the charging points - its the entire grid around them.

Car batteries as they are, currently aren't removeable. It's just not feasible. There would need to be a very radical design change to make it feasible.

(Something like each cell, or a small group of cells is housed inside a small sphere - or more likely an ovoid, and those spheres are loaded into the car through one hole - like current fuel - and removed from the car through another hole - and inside the car has to line them up with connection points via shape & magnets. Pretty radical compared to current, it'd come with a fairly significant performance penalty - and it still doesn't really sort the infrastructure issue, it just sorts the charge time thing out.)

Yes, hence why the bbc programme goes into not enough public charging points and also that the national grid capacity needs upgrading. It's a massive challenge ahead of 2030. That's why I think a lot of peeps will hold onto their combustion engine vehicles as long as possible or just go second hand. It's not feasible that everyone is going to go electric by that date.

Yes, I know it's not feasible for cars to change out batteries like it is for e-mopeds and e-bikes.

 

[dullonien]

Its not just the charging points - its the entire grid around them.

Car batteries as they are, currently aren't removeable. It's just not feasible. There would need to be a very radical design change to make it feasible.

(Something like each cell, or a small group of cells is housed inside a small sphere - or more likely an ovoid, and those spheres are loaded into the car through one hole - like current fuel - and removed from the car through another hole - and inside the car has to line them up with connection points via shape & magnets. Pretty radical compared to current, it'd come with a fairly significant performance penalty - and it still doesn't really sort the infrastructure issue, it just sorts the charge time thing out.)

Not sure why it'd need to be that radical to develop 'hot-swappable' batteries in cars.

Batteries in Teslas etc. Are spread across thr floor pan of the car, this gets the weight nice and low and keeps the cabin area as unobstructed as possible. If the size and position of this could be standardised in a way that the whole battery pack could be removed from the bottom of the car, then that could potentially be automated at service stations - something like the unmanned car washes - drive into a space, and a machine sitting below the ground removes the depleted battery and installs a fully charged one.

 

[ncurd]

Yes, hence why the bbc programme goes into not enough public charging points and also that the national grid capacity needs upgrading. It's a massive challenge ahead of 2030. That's why I think a lot of peeps will hold onto their combustion engine vehicles as long as possible or just go second hand. It's not feasible that everyone is going to go electric by that date.

Yes, I know it's not feasible for cars to change out batteries like it is for e-mopeds and e-bikes.

Its better to set the target at an unfeasbale date and work hard towards it than set one nobody bother trying to hit.

The issue we have at the moment is a government that is clearly signaling it couldn't give a **** about meeting those dates trying to avoid short term pain as much as possible.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Yes it's good to have a target but it's going to take a lot to get peeps to part from their combustion engine vehicles without a generous nationwide scrappage scheme and incentive to buy electric. We've seen how much an objection to ULEZ and that only impacts a fraction of motorists driving into London.

Tories probably know they are going to lose big next year hence why they are picking on any issue which is going to win them votes. But this issue goes well beyond them and should be a cross party commitment.

 

[Amiga500]

Not sure why it'd need to be that radical to develop 'hot-swappable' batteries in cars.

Batteries in Teslas etc. Are spread across thr floor pan of the car, this gets the weight nice and low and keeps the cabin area as unobstructed as possible. If the size and position of this could be standardised in a way that the whole battery pack could be removed from the bottom of the car, then that could potentially be automated at service stations - something like the unmanned car washes - drive into a space, and a machine sitting below the ground removes the depleted battery and installs a fully charged one.

Possibly - but the floor is an integral part of the chassis structure - important for both handling and crash absorbsion. I suppose if the floor structure became a kinda honeycomb (as viewed from the side) and the batteries lodged in sideways then it might work.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Yes, hence why the bbc programme goes into not enough public charging points and also that the national grid capacity needs upgrading. It's a massive challenge ahead of 2030. That's why I think a lot of peeps will hold onto their combustion engine vehicles as long as possible or just go second hand. It's not feasible that everyone is going to go electric by that date.

Yes, I know it's not feasible for cars to change out batteries like it is for e-mopeds and e-bikes.

The government promising something first and then trying to work out how that will actually be done half way through the process? Never!

 

[Reiser99]

Can you see this working?

This is better for cars and swappable batteries for bikes. Issue for cars like everything is our infrastructure is not designed for electric cars in general. Tbh with the way technology is moving future infrastructure projects should consider how easily it is to replace what is being built or build in a way where things can be replaced more easily.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

So Musk is now removing the ability to block people on Xitter. I really don't see how anyone can claim he is some genius, his actions are absurd and impulsive. I think he's simply discovered how many people have blocked him. Also turns out he's had a delay added in loading websites in Xitter that he doesn't like. He's such a ******* petulant man-child.

 

[SG59_]

He's been a fantastic advert to ditch the platform. Seriously, I never spent much time on there anyway, but it's really made me realise just what a horrible waste of time social media is.

It's scary how accurate a game from 01 has become.

 

[BrokenWing]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66543643

Wind powered ships? What an age we live in.

 

[RedruthRFC]

So Musk is now removing the ability to block people on Xitter. I really don't see how anyone can claim he is some genius, his actions are absurd and impulsive. I think he's simply discovered how many people have blocked him. Also turns out he's had a delay added in loading websites in Xitter that he doesn't like. He's such a ******* petulant man-child.

I read elsewhere that he's going to have to u-turn on this. Apparently, app stores don't allow social apps that don't allow users to block other users.